western English · revision 2644

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1050}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈwes.tən/, US /ˈwes.tɚn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|westerne]],^(AHD 2000)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|westerne|t=western, westerly, coming from the west]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) formed from [[m|ang|west]] and the suffix [[m|ang|-erne]], which denotes direction.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) It is akin to Old High German westrōni and Old Norse vestrœnn.^(MWU 2024) The root is that of [[west]], from [[ine-pro|*wes-pero-|t=evening, west]].^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of the wind, “coming from the west”: about 1050,^(OED 1989) late Old English.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Dwelling in the west”, of people in the west of England or Scotland, is from about 1100.^(OED 1989) By the late 14th century it meant “in or coming from the west” generally.^(Etymonline) The ''Western Ocean'' was the Atlantic.^(OED 1989) The noun, a book or film about the American Old West, is attested by 1909.^(Etymonline) ''Westerner'' was an inhabitant of the American West from 1837, and by 1880 a European or person of European descent, as opposed to an Asian.^(Etymonline) ''Western man'', humanity shaped by the culture of western Europe, is by 1909,^(Etymonline) and the ''Western omelet'' by 1922.^(Etymonline) An obsolete Old English ''western'', “desert, wilderness”, from about 950, is a different word.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – coming from the west.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1100 – dwelling in the west.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – in the west.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1837 – ''westerner'', an inhabitant of the US West.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1909 – a western film or book.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # In, toward or facing the [[west]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Coming from the west: ''a western wind''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Of or typical of the countries of Europe and North America; of the [[West]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Of the Christian churches that use or once used the Latin rite.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A novel or film about life on the American [[frontier]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[westernness]]

+ * [[westernmost]]

+ * [[nonwestern]]

+ * [[northwestern]]

+ * [[southwestern]]

+ * [[unwestern]]

+ * [[westernism]]

+ * [[westernization]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[west]]

+ * [[westerly]]

+ * [[westward]]

+ * [[westerner]]

+ * [[vesper]]

+ * [[Hesperus]]

+ * [[eastern]]

+ * [[northern]]

+ * [[southern]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}